Hammer mill type garbage grinder



y 1950 D. w. MILLER ET AL 2,509,242

HAMMER MILL TYPE GARBAGE GRINDER Filed Sept. 19, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS DANIEL W.M|LLER and EDWARD G BROWN Die 11m 1 ATTORNEYS May 30, 1950 D. w. MILLER El AL HAMMER MILL TYPE GARBAGE GRINDER Filed Sept. 19, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS DANIEL W MELLER and BY EDWARD GBROWN MMQJML ATTORNEYS Patented May 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Daniel W. Miller and Edward G. Brown, Lakewood, Ohio Application September 19, 1945, Serial No. 617,376

6 Claims. 1

The present improvements, relating as indicated to waste disposal apparatus, have more particular regard to disposal units such as have iound increasing popularity as a domestic appliance, since they make possible the discharge of ordinary kitchen refuse directly into the sewer, thus doing away with the unsightly and unsanitary arbage can.

Our present improved apparatus is of the type designed to be installed under the conventional kitchen sink to which water is supplied from the usual faucet or faucets. The apparatus will be connected with the sink outlet or drain opening through which either waste accumulating in the sink may be discharged into the apparatus or water supplied to the latter, as occasion may require. "the apparatus will oi course be connected for discharge as usual through a trapped drain pipe leading to the sewer.

One principal object of the present invention is to provide such a waste disposal apparatus which will be compact and simple in construction so as to occupy a minimum amount of space and comprise a minimum number of parts, thus reducing the likelihood that the apparatus may get out of order under ordinary conditions of use. A. further object is to provide an improved i'orm of closure for the drain opening of the sink or like receptacle wherewith the disposal apparatus is connected whereby such sink may be utilized in "the ordinary fashion or accumulated waste cleared therefrom into the apparatus, as described. Such closure also serves as a safety device, preventing operation oi the apparatus except when it is in place.

The invention further comprehends an innproved form of coinutlng mechanism for re ducing the waste received therein to necessary fine state which will permit it to be flushed by proper flow 01' water through the connections pro- .11.; 1

vicled to the sewer. Such comminuting mechanism, while acting on the principle of a hammer mill, is so constructed as to reduce wear and noise to a minimum without loss of eficiency in action. I

To the accomplishment oi the foregoing an related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

2 In said annexed drawings: Fig. 1 is a central vertical section through a waste disposal apparatus embodying our present improvements;

of such apparatus taken on a plane at right angles to that of Fig. 1, as indicated by the line 2-2 thereon;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of such comminuting mechanism taken on the same plane as that of Fig. l but showing one of the parts in different operative position;

Fig. 4. is a similar sectional view taken on a plane spaced slightly from that of Fig. 3, as indicated by the line dd on Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a detail, the plane of the section being indicated by the line t-5, Fig. i.

As previously indicated, the present waste disposal apparatus is designed to lie beneath a sink S or equivalent receptacle, of which only the bottom wall is shown in Fig. 1. Such sink or receptacle may be of any desired shape or size and it will be understood that it will be provided with the usual faucet or other means for supplying water thereto, the bottom wall being formed with a flanged opening s to which the apparatus is connected, as will be presently described.

Said apparatus comprises a main casing i, the general form of which is suiliciently indicated by the sectional views, Figs. 1 and 2, and an upper cylindrical portion 2 whereby it is connected with the flanged opening 5 of the sink, being secured thereto by means of an exteriorly threaded sleeve 3 which engages internal threads in casing portion 2, or by other suitable means. Removably fitted within sleeve 3 is an annular closure member i which is provided at its upper end with an outwardly directed flange 5 adapted to have seating engagement with the uper edge of said. sleeve, casing portion 2 being also formed with a cylindrical bore t wherewith member t closely contacts, said member being of such length as to project downwardly below the portion of the cusm ing in question into the main body II of the latter.

The lower edge of said member is turned inwardly to form a flange 7 adapted to retain a removable closure plate t, and immediately thereabove is formed with a series of lateral openings id.

lid

make and break electrical switch Ill associated with a plunger H reciprocably mounted in a radial aperture 1 2 in the adjacent wall. A spring l3 normally tends to project said plunger into the 56 bore 6 whenever the closure member 4 is raised Fig. 2 is a similar section of the lower portion Mounted on one side of casing portion 2 is a.

above the latter, and conversely, said member when pushed downwardly through such bore will force the plunger outwardly against the spring. As shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1, switch It! is connected in the electric circuit M in which is included the motor I 5 that drives the oomminuting mechanism so that circuit will be broken whenever member 4 is removed. Accordingly, the manually operated switch H] which primarily controls said circuit will only be effective to start said motor when member t is in seated position.

Fixed in the upper portion of said member is a. perforated plate it On which rests a second rotatable plate i l, likewise perforated, the perforations therein being adapted to match those in plate it in one relative position of the two plates, while in another position a complete 010-- sure is formed. A knurled button if! attached to plate 57 serves thus to rotate the same as well as to secure the two plates together and to serve as means for lifting the closure member l out of the casing portion 2 and for replacing the same therein.

The comniinuting mechanism is located in the lower part of the chamber provided within main casing l; however, as shown in 2, a space bounded by a laterally slopin lower wall it left beneath such mechanism through which the comminuted waste material is discharged.

The principal elements of the comminuting mechanism consist of a curved perforated plate 2i, mounted in the casing at the point indicated, and a. series of hammer cutters oscillatorily carried by a rotatable shaft 23, as will be presently described. Ferforated plate preferably includes an upwardly extending portion 24 that acts as a battle to receive particles which are carried around by the cutters 22 and may be thrown oil with considerable force. Plate 2!, including such extension 25, is attached at spaced points to the adjacent walls of the casing l by suitable bolts or set screws 25 with interposed resilient elements 26 in the form of rubber pads or washers which not only permit said plate to yield slightly under pressure and impact, but also greatly reduce the noise of the grinding operatlon.

As shown in Fig. 1, the lower edge of perforated plate 2i is turned sharply upwardly to provide an angular portion 21, and as further shown in Fig. ,5, such portion is desirably provided with teeth or serrations 28 which serve to retard the passage of material within the grinding chamber which otherwise might be carried around by the cutters and thrown out of contact therewith. This action is assisted by extendin and so spacing the teeth that the cutters may pass therebetween as they rotate, thus assisting in breaking up and shearing fibrous material which may lodge against such up-turned portion 21 of the plate.

Alternatively, or in addition, to providing plate 2| with the toothed angular portion 21, a similar toothed plate 29 may be attached to the casing wall so as to depend into the path of the rotatingcutters when in radially extended condition.

The cutters 22 are preferably disposed in oppositely extending pairs, the number and size of such cutters being of course determined by the capacity for which the comminuting mechanism is designed. Such cutters are furthermore preferably arranged in substantial alignment with the respective rows of holes in the perforated portion of plate 2| so that as they are thrown outwardly upon rotation about shaft 23 they will act to discharge the comminuted material through such holes in direct radial lines. They are furthermore so pivoted and of such shape that they can swing inwardly against the body of the rotor as illustrated in Fig. 3, and will then lie within a small radius. The forward faces of the cutters are preferably notched or serrated, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to provide a plurality of teeth on each thereof which will assist in engaging and throwing downwardly the waste material collected in casing l, as is desirable inasmuch as, in contradistinction to a. conventional hammer mill to which material is fed only after the hammers are in motion, the present comminuting mechanism will not be started until suilicient matter has accumulated to at least partially fill the casing. The retractibility of the cutters at the same time tends to prevent stalling through contact thereof with large or par-- tially hard particles and also reduces the effort required to start the rotor.

The series of cutters 22 are not directly attached to shaft 23, but through the medium of a carrier of special construction which is fitted onto a sleeve 38 of rubber like resilient material which is in turn fitted i he shaft. The carrier consists in effect of a plurality of spaced discs 32, held in proper spaced relation by means of longitudinally aligned 3-3 so as to permit the successive cutters 22 to be oscillator-fly mounted between such disks. Such carrier will preferably be cast in one piece of suitable wear and corrosion resistant metal and will be closely fitted or vulcanized to the resilient sleeve 3! so as to rotate therewith and at the same time compress the latter suficiently tightly upon shaft 23 to cause the entire assembly to rotate with such shaft. The cutters 22 are oscillatorily secured in the spaces between adjacent discs by means of rods 34 that extend lengthwise of the carrier, such rods being removable to facilitate replacement of the cutters when they become worn.

As shown in the upper part of Fig. 3, the cutters in their retracted position will lie entirely within the spaces defined by the peripheries of the discs 32, but under centrifugal force said cutters will tend to swing outwardly to occupy the radially extending position shown in the lower part of the figure. Furthermore, in such fully extended position, as shown in Fig. 1, the outer ends of the cutters will closely graze the adjacent portion of perforated plate 2|. As also clearly shown in Fig. 3, in the spaces between the discs 32 of the carrier in which the cutters are thus oscillatorily mounted, substantial portions of the outer surface of resilient sleeve 3| will be exposed and it is against these portions that the cutters when retracted or drawn inwardly will rest.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the rotor which constitutes the principal element of the comminuting mechanism in our apparatus presents a number of improvements. In the first place, the action of the hammer outters is controlled entirely by centrifugal force, no springs or stops being required. In the second place, when in their retracted position, i. e.

' when disposed hansversely of the shaft, said outters lie entirely within the cylindrical outline of the hub or carrier as defined by the disks which form the principal elements of the latter. As a result the possibility of material becoming jammed between the rotor and the perforated plate wherewlth the latter cooperates is reduced to a minimum. Further provision for avoiding aooaaaa jamming is found in the close clearance between the carrier and cutters so that in operation the rotor will tend to be self-cleaning, the presence of water combined with centrifugal action serving to prevent material from accumulating in the recesses of the rotor.

The rubber sleeve which is interposed between the carrier member and the shaft serves several important functions. In the first place, since said sleeve is mounted on the shaft to turn therewith and. the carrier is similarly mounted on said sleeve, the latter constitutes a torsionally resilient connection between the hammer cutter and the shaft, thus tending to reduce the shock when sudden resistance is encountered by the cutters. At the same time the portions of the sleeve exposed between the adjacent disks of the carrier will receive the impact of the hammers when thrown inwardly into position transversely of the shaft, and due to the resilient material whereof said sleeve is composed, will absorb and dissipate the resulting shock. In fact the rotor as a whole is admirably designed to dampen both radial and axial shocks received by any part of said rotor, either carrier member or hammer cutters, and thus correspondingly relieve the shaft. In other words, said carrier member with the hammer cutters mounted thereon is free to float to a certain extent relatively to the shaft.

A rotary pump 35 is preferably connected with the outlet in the lower portion of casing i to assist in the discharge of the comminuted material through a duct 38 that leads to the regular.

drain pipe or sewer. It will be understood that this pump, together with the shaft 23 that carries the cutters or hammers 22, will be driven by the electric motor it through suitable belt or other driving connections.

The construction and operation of the several component parts having now been described, the operation of the apparatus as a whole will be briefly indicated. Assuming that a quantity of waste material has accumulated in sink S, the closure member t will be removed so that such material may be dropped into casing l until, if desired, the latter is full. During the time said member i is thus removed, the secondary control switch ill renders it impossible for the comminuting mechanism to be set in operation even though primary switch it be closed. However, upon replacing said member the comminuting mechanism may be started by closing said switch it and at the same time the desired volume of water from faucet or other source will be supplied to the sink and allowed to flow into the casing l by properly rotating knob it to permit water to flow through member After the material in the casing has been comminuted and discharged, the sink may be used in the normal way either with the drain through the closure member open or closed as desired. In actual test the comminuting mechanism which we have devised has been found to be not only exceptionally efficient and rapid in operation, effectively grind ing all of the usual materials which the apparatus is designed to handle, but owing to the interposition of rubber or equivalent backing members for the plate 2i and in the mounting for the cutie-cs E2 on the shaft 23 the operation is Mmered comparatively noiseless and at the same time there is sufficient yield so that relatively hard particles may be ground without stalling or injury to the mechanism.

The efficient action of the comminuting mechanism employed is further increased by the close Eli disposition thereof in relation to the one, correspondingly curved, side wall of casing II, while the other side wall of such casing to which the perforated plate M with baffle extension 26 is attached is divergently spaced from the corresponding side of the path travelled by the rotary cutters. Having regard to the direction of rotation of the latter, it will be seen that they will engage the waste material deposited in the easlng'on their downward stroke, while such material will constitute no particular impediment to the cutters on their upward stroke. Finally, the divergent, curved form of the perforated plate ii, the curvature thereof being on a substantially larger radius than that of the path traversed by the cutter, causes the waste material in the casing to crowd against the cutters as such material descends and at the same time permits all portions thereof either initially, or as reduced by action of the cutters to sufllciently fine state, to escape into the discharge space below.

The term rubber as used herein to describe the material whereof sleeve 3! is composed will be understood to connote any equivalent material capable of functioning in the manner described.

Other modes of applying the principle: of our invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as our invention:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination a casing having an opening in its upper portion for the introduction of material, comminuting mechanism located in the lower portion of said casing. said mechanism including a rotatable, transversely disposed shaft, a rubber sleeve mounted on said shaft to turn therewith, a plurality of axially spaced disks fixedly attached to said sleeve, said sleeve being exposed between successive disks, and a plurality of hammer cutters pivotally mounted between successive disks about an axis parallel with but spaced radially from said shaft, said cutters being freely oscillatory between a radially extending position and a position transverse of said shaft in contact with such exposed portion of said sleeve.

2. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination a casing having an opening in its upper portion for the introduction of material, comminuting mechanism located in the lower portion of said casing, said mechanism including a, rotatable, transversely disposed shaft, a rubber sleeve mounted on said shaft to turn therewith, a plurality of axially spaced disks fixedly attached to said sleeve, longitudinally aligned webs connecting said disks, said rubber sleeve being exposed between said disks and webs, a rod passing transversely through said disks adjacent said webs, and a plurality of hammer cutters pivotally mounted on said rod between successive disks, said cutters being freely oscillatory between a radially extending position and a position transverse of said shaft in contact with such exposed portion of said sleeve.

3. A rotor for comminuting mechanism, comprising a shaft, a surrounding rubber sleeve mounted on said shaft to turn therewith, a hammer carried similarly mounted on said sleeve, said carrier being formed with a plurality of axially spaced transverse slots exposing said 7.. sleeve, and axially spaced hammers in such slots pivotally attached to said carrier and freely oscillatory between a radially extending position and a position transverse of said shaft in contact with such exposed portion of said sleeve.

4. A rotor for comminuting mechanism, comprising a shaft, a surrounding rubber sleeve mounted on said shaft to turn therewith, a plurality of axially spaced disks similarly mounted on said sleeve, said sleeve being exposed between successive disks, and a plurality of hammers pivotally mounted between successive disks about an axis parallel with but spaced radially from said shaft, said hammers being freely oscillatory about such axis between a, radially extending position and a position transverse of said shaft in contact with such exposed portion of said sleeve.

5. A rotor for comminuting mechanism, comprising a shaft, a surrounding rubber sleeve mounted on said shaft to turn therewith, a plurality of axially spaced disks similarly mounted on said sleeve, longitudinally aligned webs connecting said disks, said sleeve being exposed between said disks and webs, a rod passing through said disks adjacent said webs, and a plurality of hammers pivotally mounted on said rod between successive disks, said hammers being freely oscillatory about said rod between a radially extending position and a position transverse of said shaft in contact with such exposed portion of said sleeve.

6. A rotor for comminuting mechanism, comprising a shaft, a surrounding rubber sleeve mounted on said shaft to turn therewith, a plurality of axially spaced disks similarly mounted on said sleeve, said sleeve being exposed between successive disks, and a plurality of hammers 8. plvotally mounted between successive disks about an axis parallel with but spaced radially from said shaft, said hammers being freely oscillatory about such axis between a radially extending position and a position transverse of said shaft, said hammers in such latter rposition lying within the cylindrical outline of said disks and in contact with such exposed portion of said sleeve. DANIEL W. MILLER. EDWARD G. BROWN.

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